Mixed doubles shuffle

It’s one last chance to get to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, and Canada’s top curlers are jumping on it.

With the men’s and women’s teams decided at the recent Olympic trials in Ottawa, players who didn’t make the cut are taking aim at the mixed doubles trials in Portage la Prairie, next month.

Brad Gushue’s third, Mark Nichols of St. John’s, is joining Jennifer Jones as a replacement for her husband and mixed doubles partner, Brent Laing.

Laing qualified for the Games with Kevin Koe on the men’s side.

Jones’ third, Kaitlyn Lawes of Winnipeg, has teamed up with former Olympic gold-medal winner John Morris, after Morris lost his initial teammate, Rachel Homan.

Homan will skip the women’s team in Pyeongchang.

With Homan’s lead, Lisa Weagle, unavailable for mixed doubles play, John Epping has turned to Sherry Middaugh of Victoria Harbour, Ont., as a replacement.

Replacing Homan’s third, Emma Miskew, on Tyrel Griffith’s team is Sherry Just of Saskatchewan.

The moves mean all of Jones’s former Olympic gold-medal winning team will be competing in the mixed double trials, as third Jill Officer had already joined fellow Winnipegger Reid Carruthers as a replacement for Homan second, Joanne Courtney, and Jones’s lead, Dawn McEwen, was already teamed up with husband, Mike.

Two teams at the mixed doubles trials will be comprised entirely of former Olympic champions: the Morris/Lawes team and the Jones/Nichols duo.

The 18 teams will be divided into two, nine-team pools, based on their rankings.

They’ll play a single round-robin, after which eight teams will advance to the playoffs: the top two in each pool, plus the next four with the best won-loss records.

This Week's Flyers

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.